South Sudan requests to join Arab League

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry has met South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss Juba's request to join the Cairo-based Arab League, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The meeting comes in the wake of a brief Africa tour by Shukry, during which he met Kiir in the South Sudanese capital on Monday. .

Regional issues According to the ministry statement, the two men also discussed means of enhancing South Sudan-Egypt relations and "regional issues of common concern", including ongoing negotiations over Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam project.

Monday's meeting also reportedly saw an agreement signed establishing a "mechanism for political consultation" between Cairo and Juba, while Shukry also conveyed a message to Kiir - the contents of which were not disclosed - from the Egyptian president.

Since 2013, South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan following a 2011 popular referendum, has remained the scene of a bloody civil war pitting government forces against armed opposition groups.

A split between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar escalated into a military conflict in December 2013.

Despite a 2015 peace deal signed between the two sides, the conflict - in which some 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed - remains ongoing.